16 | Wednesday, June 3, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY YOUTH Wonder Wall

It is one of the most famous structures on Earth, but when it is viewed through photographer Yang Dong’s lens people can actually see the true beauty of China’s most iconic monument, Li Yingxue reports.

hen a heavy downpour hit Beijing one afternoon in May, for many the instinctive thing to do was to rush for cover. For photographer Yang Dong, however,W his first thought was to grab his camera. The next morning, Yang got up at 2:30 am and drove to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Arriving at the foot of the mountain an hour and a half later, Yang started to climb with all his photog­ raphy equipment. Before sunrise, Yang had already set up his camera, hoping to capture a specific moment when the Great Wall would be partly hid­ den in the clouds. With a click — and a great deal of patience — he got what he came for. “After heavy rain or snow, the next morning is the best time to find a sea of clouds around the Great Wall,” Yang says in a phone interview with China Daily. The 28­year­old became popular on social media platform Sina Weibo sharing the stories behind his photographs of the Great Wall (of which he has 300,000) over the past five years, with his anec­ dotes being viewed more than 150 million times. One internet user, with the handle Tuzi897, com­ ments: “Only repeatedly measuring the Great Wall step by step can he know which angle is the most beautiful.” He is known as the Great Wall photographer, and his story is well­known among the monument’s enthusiasts. So much so, he was invited to play a lead role in the documentary Loving the Great Wall released in January, and was also the spokesman for the 2019 China Great Wall International Foto Week. In February, Yang was invited to participate, together with celebrity guests, in the second episode of variety show The Great Wall, which introduces knowledge about the monument in an entertaining way. As part of the show, Yang taught the guests how to take a good photo of the ancient structure. Actor Yang Di, said during the episode that, when he saw Yang Dong’s photos, all he could say was “wow” and that he didn’t know the Great Wall could look like that. Yang Dong’s love affair with the camera began when he received one as a gift from his parents. In 2011, although he majored in accounting when he enrolled in Yangtze University in Jingzhou, Hubei province, he never stopped engaging in his passion for travel and photography. While in college, he would spend almost every weekend and vacation traveling to the many scenic spots around Jingzhou and across the country. “I’m an introvert, but since I’ve had a camera, it has helped me to communicate with the world,” he says. After graduation in 2014, Yang Dong and a friend spent six weeks backpacking through the Tibet autonomous region, before he moved to Beijing and started a photography course at the Beijing Film Academy. His tutor Xiao Dianchang said in a documentary about Yang Dong that he was a diligent student with a strong ability to comprehend. “The aspect of a suc­ cessful photographer was to find a specialty, and I thought he was good at landscape photography,” Xiao said. After a month’s study, Xiao told Yang Dong that there was no need for him to continue the course and that he should go out to practice his pho­ tography. Xiao encouraged Yang Dong to continue pursuing landscape photography. The bigger picture for Yang Dong soon came into focus — the Great Wall.

Pride and pleasure In the summer of 2015, Yang Dong visited the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall in Hebei province. It was the first time he took photos of the Great Wall and it brought him a first prize. “I was so excited that I didn’t sleep all that night. Since then, I’ve won more than 100 prizes with my Top left: Great Wall photographer Yang Dong, 28, at the Baicaokou Great Wall near Yanmen Pass in Shanxi province. Clockwise from top: photos of the Great Wall.” Some photos he has taken on various sections of the Great Wall: a snowy scene on Jinshanling, Hebei province; Dushikou section in Hebei; To capture the photo of the Jinshanling section Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu province. Jiayuguan in winter; Jinshanling at dusk; and Simatai in Beijing. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY in the clouds, Yang Dong made two dozen visits before he finally got a picture that satisfied him. Once, he waited for five full days to get the shot, from a follower that says: “I admire a young guy the night sky — above the watchtower on top of the only left him one chance to launch his drone before while most of the other snappers had left by the named Yang Dong. No matter how his photos look, mountain — then presses the shutter. sunset to capture the Great Wall covered in snow. second night. “Only three photographers stayed his diligent effort to record one of the greatest man­ “Night on the Great Wall is often so dark that I However it was so cold that the device which con­ after the rain on the fourth night, and I insisted on made structures on Earth enables some people to can’t see my fingers,” Yang Dong says, adding that he trols the drone suddenly stopped working. Yang waiting until I finally got the shot,” he recalls. rediscover the Great Wall and draw their attention usually sleeps in a tent inside one of the watchtowers. Dong opened his winter jacket to tuck the device “Some people say I get the prize­winning photos to the need for its protection.” He says he is either at the Great Wall taking pho­ inside to try and warm it up again. because of luck. Yes, but that luck comes from the “The Great Wall is about the nature, as well as the tos or on the way to it. The tough climb to and from The sudden exposure to the cold numbed his effort of holding on a little longer,” he says. architecture. There is a spirit of the Great Wall and the wall never stops him. whole upper body and the hand that held the tab­ In May 2016, when Yang Dong was photograph­ my love for that is presented in my photos,” Yang “When I’m climbing, I feel like all my energy has let. He fumbled with frozen fingers to get the tablet ing at Jinshanling, he noticed the pattern of the Dong says. After learning more about the Great run out, but once I’ve reached my destination, I feel up and running and finally got the shot he wanted moving clouds resembled smoke, as if from a bea­ Wall and communicating with specialists who like I’m fully charged,” he says. — the whole place covered in snow — but at a small con fire during some long­forgotten war. devoted themselves to studying and protecting the He also walks hand in hand with danger and lon­ cost, as the next day when he got up, his finger was “The scene transported me to an ancient battle­ ancient edifice, he says he now has a better under­ eliness — he has witnessed lightning flashing just 5 badly swollen with mild frostbite. field, and I immediately started running to find the standing of it. “The Great Wall has given me spiritu­ meters in front of him, been scratched many times He hatched a plan last year to take a series pho­ best angle of the clouds and the beacon tower to al sustenance, knowledge and willpower.” by the thorns of wild jujube trees and had some tos of the 13 passes of the Great Wall under snow. capture that moment,” he recalls. close encounters with some of the creatures, such as With five done, he hopes to finish the project in However, the excitement of winning prizes has The road less trodden boars, that roam the wilder parts of the wall. three years. Like all the journeys he’s embarked gradually waned, but Yang Dong has found a new, The Great Wall under the Milky Way is also in his In December 2018, when he heard that the Jiayu­ upon, he’s on course to finish it. more lasting motivation — to present the beauty of portfolio. Each year from March to June part of the guan section of the Great Wall may see snow, he the Great Wall to the world. Milky Way is clearly visible, and Yang Dong traveled 22 hours from Beijing by train to get there. Contact the writer at It dawned on him while reading a comment patiently waits until it moves to the right place in The temperature was ­28 C, and the cold winter [email protected]